Swing augers have been in use for years. Conventional swing augers are attachable to main auger which is well known in the art. One of the main problems with conventional swing augers is that they are heavy and difficult to manually manipulate. The swing auger includes an auger tube pivoted at the upper end to the main auger with a hopper at the lower end of the swing auger tube.
Recently, hydraulically powered swing augers such as the MK POWER SWING manufactured by WESTFIELD in Rosenort, Manitoba utilize hydraulic power from the tractor to drive an auxiliary wheel or wheels attached to the swing auger tube at a position just upward from the hopper. One of the problems with the hydraulically powered swing augers is that they require the tractor to be in operation to provide hydraulic pressure to the hydraulic motor. Another problem with hydraulically powered swing augers is that they require the user to manipulate a valve near the swing auger requiring the user to leave the tractor to move the swing auger. A similar arrangement is sold by a competitor Mayrath as a hydraulic drive kit for a swing away auger.
While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not as suitable for efficiently manipulating a position of a swing auger. Conventional swing augers require the user to manually manipulate the swing auger into the desired positions.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,191,889 ((Heley) issued Mar. 20, 2007 is disclosed a remote controlled swing auger system for efficiently manipulating a position of a swing auger. The remote controlled swing auger system includes a swing auger connectable to a main auger, a swing hopper connected to the swing auger, a plurality of front wheels and a plurality of rear wheels rotatably attached to the swing hopper, a drive motor mechanically connected to the front wheels, a control unit in communication with the drive motor, and at least one controller in communication with the control unit. The controller may be comprised of a manual controller and/or a remote controller. The user is able to pivot the swing hopper with respect to a main auger by using the remote controller while in the tractor or in a remote location away from the augers.